Method and apparatus for feeding newspapers

ABSTRACT

Feeder apparatus for folded newspaper sections which has particular utility in the case of a relatively thin outer section which receives a number of stacked inserts causing the total supplemented section to be of substantial thickness. The apparatus includes a hopper which supports an upright stack of the sections with their hinge-like fold lines facing the direction of delivery. A shuffle plate forming the floor of the hopper along with retractable newspaper engaging pins reciprocates laterally of the stack and, during its forward stroke, carries the lowermost newspaper section in the stack therewith to partially withdraw the section from the stack. A pair of blades reciprocating on opposite sides of the plate in timed relationship therewith, slip between the folds of the section and engage the fold line of the section after slight initial movement of the lower half of the newspaper jacket section by the plate and pin structure. Continued movement of the blades at a faster rate than the plate causes the section to be moved relative to the plate and effect introduction thereof by the blades between feed rollers which complete the withdrawal of the section from the stack. The retractable pin structure on the plate engages the lowermost supplemented newspaper section only during the forward stroke of the plate to assure movement of the section therewith and retracts during the return stroke to prevent engagement with the next section in the stack.

United States Patent m1 Hannon et al.

[451 Dec. 11, 1973 METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR FEEDING NEWSPAPERS I [75] Inventors: Warren W. Hannon; Charles N.

Hannon, both of Olathe, Kans.

[73] Assigneez Warren W. Hannon, Olathe, Kans.

[22] Filed: Mar. 5, 1973 [21] Appl. No.: 338,382

Related U.S. Application Data [63] Continuation of Ser. No. 136,090, April 21, 1971,

Primary Examiner-Even C. Blunk Assistant Examiner-Bruce l-l. Stoner, Jr. Att0rneySchmidt, Johnson, l-lovey & Williams [57] ABSTRACT Feeder apparatus for folded newspaper sections which has particular utility in the case of a relatively thin outer section which receives a number of stacked inserts causing the total supplemented section to be of substantial thickness. The apparatus includes a hopper which supports an upright stack of the sections with their hinge-like fold lines facing the direction of delivery. A shuffle plate forming the floor of the hopper along with retractable newspaper engaging pins reciprocates laterally of the stack and, during its forward stroke, carries the lowermost newspaper section in the stack therewith to partially withdraw the section from the stack. A pair of blades reciprocating on opposite sides of the plate in timed relationship therewith, slip between the folds of thesection and engage the fold line of the section after slight initial movement of the lower half of the newspaper jacket section by the plate and pin structure. Continued movement of the blades at a faster rate than the plate causes the section to be moved relative to the plate and effect introduction thereof by the blades between feed rollers which complete the withdrawal of the section from the stack. The retractable pin structure on the plate engages the lowermost supplemented newspaper section only during the forward stroke of the plate to assure movement of the section therewith and retracts during the return stroke to prevent engagement with the next section in the stack.

6 Claims, 13 Drawing Figures Pmmgnmcnms 3.777.907

sum 1 or 3 Milt IHWIIW 1.\'\ '13.\' TORS. Warren W. Harmon //4 By Charles N. Harmon PAIENTEB 1 Illlllll g 5 5 R0 N mg n mm m w w mm W H8 6 Wm M WC Y B ATTOR E Y6.

PAIENTEnmm I ma 3 I 777, 9 O7 BY Charles N. Harmon HTT NEYS.

METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR FEEDING NEWSPAPERS by means of automated equipment because the small number of pages which make up the outer jacket of the supplemented section are relatively thin, presenting a package which is flimsy and easily torn. A six page comic section containing eight to twelve supplements is a commonly encountered example. These problems are magnified to an even greater extent when the supplemented sections are stored in upright stacks prior to assembly with other sections to produce a completed newspaper edition,;since the sections must be successively removed from the bottom of the stack against the resistance offered by the remaining sections in the stack above the section being removed.

Several different varieties of bottom-feeding apparatus are currently available including the type shown and disclosed in our U. S. Letters Pat. No. 3,161,000 which utilizes a pair of flat, reciprocating blades on opposite sides of the lowermost newspaper section which slip between the opposed folds thereof and withdraw the section from the stack by engaging the hinge-like fold line of the section. While this apparatus has proven to be extremely successful in practice, it has been found that certain difficulties may arise where the outer jacket section being fed is made up of relatively few pages and receives a large number of inserts which collectively increase the thickness of the supplemented section to a significant degree. The problem is further compounded when a large number of the supplemented sections are contained in the stack. More specifically, because of the inherent weakness of the pages of the outer jacket section, the resistance offered by the section where the blades engage the fold line is less than the friction between the lowermost supplemented section and the section thereabove, causing the blades to tear through the section at the fold line in many instances instead of withdrawing the same from the stack. While it would be possible to reduce the static load on the lowermost supplemental section by simply reducing the number of sections contained in the stack until tearing of the fold line of the bottom section no longer occurred, the supply of sections would have to be replenished at a much faster rate, thereby requiring increased operator attention and resulting higher labor costs.

Therefore, the primary goal of the present invention is to provide a method and apparatus which solves the above problems associated with successively feeding relatively thick supplemented newspaper sections from a stack thereof yet is reliable, operates without damaging the sections, and does not necessitate any increase in labor costs.

A further important object of the invention is to provide mutually cooperable shuffle plate, pin and insertable blade structure for removing a relatively thick supplemented newspaper section from beneath a stack thereof wherein the pins are impaled into the newspaper section and at least one of the inserts and movement of the plate is initiated simultaneously therewith slightly ahead of engagement of the drive blades with the fold line of the jacket section so that displacement of the lowermost supplemented section from the stack thereof is not dependent on the blades alone. but also receives assisting force from the movable plate and pins.

It is another important object of the invention to provide a reciprocating shuffle plate which doubles as a bottom support for the stack and as a means for partially withdrawing the lowermost supplemented section of the stack to present the section to awaiting delivery rollers which complete the withdrawal.

A further important object of our invention is the provision of divider blades on opposite sides of the lowermost section which reciprocate in timed relationship with the shuffle plate and at a slightly faster speed such that the blades slip between the opposed folds of the supplemented section and engage the fold line of the section to initiate removal of the section from the plate prior to contact with the delivery rollers.

Another important object of this invention is to provide novel pin structure on the shuffle plate which engages the lowermost supplemented newspaper section to assure movement thereof with the shuffle plate during its forward stroke yet is retractable during the return stroke of. the plate to avoid engagement with the next section of the stack.

In the drawings:

FIG. 1 is a side elevational view of feeding apparatus embodying the principles of the present invention and capable of carrying out the method thereof;

FIG. 2 is a top plan view of the apparatus of FIG. 1 with components thereof partially broken away and shown in cross section and in phantom for clarity;

FIG. 3 is a vertical, cross-sectional view of the apparatus taken along line 33 of FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is a fragmentary, rear elevational view of the apparatus with parts shown in cross section for clarity;

FIG. 5 is a fragmentary, substantially vertical, crosssectional view taken along line 5-5 of FIG. 2 and illustrating in particular the relationship of the shuffle plate with its adjacent components;

FIG. 6 is an enlarged, fragmentary detailed, elevational view of one of the retractable pin structures for the shuffle plate;

FIG. 7 is a detailed top plan view of the pin structure of FIG. 7 with the shuffle plate removed; and

FIGS. 8-13 are diagrammatic views illustrating the successive steps of the feeding process.

Referring initially to FIGS. 1-5, the feeder 20 of the present invention includes a lower base frame 22 to which are secured two pairs of upstanding walls 24 and 26, the walls 24 generally forming the sides of the feeder 20 while the walls 26 are disposed interiorly of walls 24 and partially define a hopper 28 for a vertical stack of folded newspaper sections (not shown), each normally containing a number of stacked inserts as supplements to the outer jacket section.

The hopper 28 is further defined by a pair of generally L-shaped, upstanding rear guide members 30 which are adjustably secured to the frame 22 for movement toward and away from a pair of vertical front members 32 which are vertically adjustable by means of adjusting mechanism 34 on a crossbar 36 which spans the distance between the outer walls 24. A rest 37 in the nature of an L-shaped angle member is bolted to the rear guide members 30 above the lower ends of the latter for supporting the rear portions of materials disposed within the hopper 28. Relatively stiff brush structure 38 extends between the two members 32 ad- 'jacent the lower ends thereof and projects downwardly therefrom to serve as abutment means for sections of the stack as will hereinafter be described in more detail. I

The floor of the hopper 28 is defined by a flat, horizontally extending shuffle plate 40 which is mounted for reciprocation along a path extending between front and rear members 32 and 30, respectively, by means of two sets of rollers 42 which extend upwardly from frame 22 and engage the bottom face of plate 40. The fore-and-aft dimension of the plate 40 is greater than the distance between front and rear hopper members 32 and 30, respectively, and forwardmost, laterally extending wings 40a of plate 40 project through cutout areas 26a in inner walls 26 into the space between the latter and the outer walls 24.

Each pair of walls 24 and 26 defines a compartmentlike space adjacent the shuffle plate 40 which houses a reciprocable divider unit broadly denoted by the numeral 44. The units 44 are identical in construction and operation and are substantially similar in all respects to the corresponding divider units shown and described in our U. S. Letters Pat. No. 3,161,000. Accordingly, the units of such Patent are hereby incorporated by reference into the present application where necessary in order to provide a full and complete understanding of the construction and operation of the feeder 20 of the present invention. Briefly, each of the units 44 includes a generally L-shaped track 46 (as best seen in FIGS. 2 and 3) which'is pivoted at one end 48 to the adjacent hopper wall 26 and is supported intermediate its ends by linkage 50 which is ultimately connected to the adjusting mechanism 34. The linkage 50 is pivoted at 52 to the adjacent wall 26 such that activation of the mechanism 34 results in swinging of the track 46 about its pivotal connection with wall 26. The horizontal leg 54 of track 46 has an elongated, fore-and-aft extending slot 56 therein which defines the path of travel of the mount 58 for the generally crescent-shaped blade 60. The mount 58 includes a pair of upper and lower sections 62 on opposite sides of the leg 54 which are interconnected by means of a springloaded bolt 64 extending through slot 56, the blade 60 being secured to the lower section 62 which is freely rotatable relative to the upper section 62 about bolt 64 between stops 66 on the upper section 62 which engage an upstanding peg 68 on the lower section 62. The leg 54 also has an elongated, cutout portion 70 along the outside edge thereof which extends parallel to slot 56 and terminates in a pair of opposed shoulders 72 at opposite ends thereof which are disposed in the path of travel of peg 68 when the mount 58 reciprocates.

A pair of vertically spaced, rotatable shafts 74 extend across the front of the feeder 20 and carry for rotation therewith three longitudinally spaced sets of opposed spective outer walls 24 and are yieldably biased in a downward direction by a set of coil springs (only one of the springs being shown in FIG..1). While the rollers 76 are normally disposed in abutting relationship as shown in the drawings, it is desirable to maintain the rollers 76 in a slightly spaced condition instead of allowing them to come together when thicker supplemented sections are being fed by the hopper structure, since this allows the rollers to grip the newspaper at a transverse area thereof sufficiently behind the leading edge of the supplemented section to assure gripping of the inserts beneath the jacket section, notwithstanding the relatively blunt forward edge of the jacket attributable to the large number of inserts inside of the newspaper. If the rollers were allowed to stay in engagement regardless of the thickness of the supplemented section, the relatively thick, blunt edge thereof would cause the rollers to only engage the outer jacket at the fold line thereof and simply pull such jacket forwardly in a peeling-type of action, thus leaving the inserts behind. Selective spacing of rollers 76 is accomplished by providing a spacer element 82 for each arm 78 (FIG. 1) which is pivotally secured at its lower end to the frame 22 for swinging movement into and out of a position wherein the pad 84 at the uppermost end of element 82 engages the bottom of arm 78 to lift the upper shaft 78 and corresponding rollers 78 for a predetermined distance A latch 86 is provided on the walls 24 for each of the spacer elements 82 to releasably hold the latter in position beneath the respective arm 78.

The shuffle plate 40, the divider units 44, and the delivery rollers 76 are all driven by a power source (not shown) which couples with a common input shaft 88 disposed at the rear of the feeder 20. The input shaft 88 extends across the rear of feeder 20 beyond the opposite outer wall 24 and at this location is operatively coupled with the roller shafts 76 by means of a pair of chain and sprocket assemblies 90- which are arranged to ultimately drive the rollers of each set in opposite directions. Additionally, the input shaft 88 is coupled by means of a chain and sprocket assembly 92 with a sin gle drive shaft 94 which extends across the front of feeder 20 and emerges at the opposite side thereof to provide driving power for the units 44 and the shuffle plate 40.

A crank assembly 96 is affixed to the shaft 94 (FIGS. 1 and 2) outside of the corresponding outer wall 24 and has a short link 98 pivotally secured to one end thereof which is, in turn, affixed to a shaft 100 which spans the distance between the two outer walls 24 and is journalled thereby for rotation. A pair of second crank assemblies 102 within the compartments defined by the walls 24 and 26 interconnect the units 44 and the shaft 100 to drive the units 44 in response to oscillation of the shaft 100.

A sleeve 104 affixed to the bottom face of shuffle plate 40 slidably receives therewithin a fore-and-aft extending guide rod 106 which is secured to a member of the frame 22, thereby maintaining the plate 40 in its proper path during reciprocation thereof. A vertically extending bolt 108 projects downwardly from the sleeve 104 and rotatably carries a bearing 11.0 thereon which is loosely embraced by a pair of upstanding cars 112 on a horizontally extending drive bar 114. The bar 114 projects outwardly through a slot in one of the walls 24 and is pivoted intermediate its ends at 116 to another frame member for swinging movement in a horizontal plane toward and away from the front of the feeder 20. A pitman 118 coupled with theouter end of bar 114 is eccentrically connected to a chain and sprocket assembly 120 which, in turn, is driven by the shaft 94. Thus, the shuffle plate 40 is driven in timed relationship with the units 44 by means of the common drive shaft 94 and, as shown most clearly in FIG. 1, the pitman 1 18 is disposed slightly behind the crank assembly 96 in their respective operating cycles to thereby obtain an initial slight lag between the units 44 and the plate 40 as will hereinafter become clear. Moreover, the geometrical relationshipbetween the components of the crank assembly 96 for units 44 and the fact that the path of travel of the plate 40 is shorter than those of the units 44 cause the latter to move at a slightly faster rate during operation than the shuffle plate 40.

As best shown in FIGS. 2, 6 and 7, the shuffle plate 40 has a pair of retractable pin structures 122 thereon which areutilized to assure movement of the lowermost supplemented newspaper section inthe stack with the shuffle plate 40. Each structure 122 includes a mounting block 124 having a cover 126 across the top thereof which fits into a mating opening within the shuffle plate 40 and rests upon a ring-like bracket 128 secured to the bottom face of plate 40.

The block 124 rotatably carries a horizontally extending bolt 130 which, in turn, supports a pin 132 passing entirely through the bolt 130. An L-shaped stop 134 is secured to the block 124' and has a corner opening 136 therein which receives the blunt end of the pin 132 and thereby operates to limit the extent of swinging of the latter. A weight 138 secured to the bolt 130 yieldably biases the pin 132 in a counterclockwise direction viewing FIG. 6, such that the pin 132 is normally disposed in an inclined disposition with the pointed end thereof projecting upwardly beyond the upper surface of the shuffle plate 40. I

OPERATION The successive steps in the operation of the feeder may best be understood by'referring primarily to the diagrammatic FIGS. 8-13, while making periodic reference to the remaining Figures when necessary. The feeder 20 is primarily designed to feed relatively thick supplemented newspaper sections each having a thin, folded, outer jacket section, although it is to be understood that the feeder 20 will operate with equal success where sections of varying thicknesses are desired to be fed.

To begin the feeding process a vertical stack of the supplemented newspaper sections may be supplied to the hopper 28 with the hinge like fold lines of the jacket sections in the stack facing the delivery rollers 76 and ultimate point of delivery and abutting the forward members 32. In this disposition, the forward portion of lowermost supplemented section of the stack rests directly upon the shuffle plate 40, which offers an upwardly extending zone of supporting force to the stack, while the rear portion thereof is supported by the rest 37. This causes the sections to be bent such that the rear portions thereof are maintained in an inclined condition with respect to the forward portions. Manipulation of the adjusting mechanism 34 may be made at this time in order to bring the blades 60 of units 44 into alignment with the juxtaposed folds of the lowermost section, as shown in FIG. 8, and to thereby automatically position the brush 38 at the proper distance above plate 40 to clear only the lowermost section.

Activation of the input shaft 88 causes the rollers 76 to be positively driven in opposite directions and rotates the shaft 94 in a clockwise direction viewing FIG. 1 to operate crank assembly 96 and pitman 118, thereby driving plate 40 and units 44. Referring to FIG. 8, both the plate 40 and one of the units 44 are shown moving toward their rearmost positions in preparation for withdrawing the lowermost section in the stack. In the interest of clarity, the section is illustrated with the rest 37 removed such that the plate 40 supports the entire surface of the section instead of just the front portion thereof. However, it is'to be understood that, if desired, the rest 37 may beincluded and would operate to facilitate withdrawal of the sections in a manner hereinafter to be described.

As the crank assembly 96 approaches a straight-line condition just prior to reaching its FIG. 1 position, the mount 58 of each unit 44 is shifted to its back limit of travel, thereby causing the peg 68 to engage rear shoulder 72 of track leg '54, which results in the blade being swung into its FIG. 9 position and slipped between the juxtaposed folds of the lowermost jacket section. Thus, the relationship between the plate 40 and blade 60 shown in FIG. 9 corresponds to the condition of the feeder in FIGS. 1-7 and, inasmuch as the pitman 118 is arranged slightly behind the crank assembly 96, during the time that the blades 60 have slipped between the folds of the lowermost section, the shuffle plate 40 is still moving very slightly as shown.

As the crank assembly 96 continues to rotate past its FIG. 1 position, the blade 60 is advanced toward the delivery rollers 76 until it reaches its FIG. 10 position wherein the plate 40 is completing a period of slight dwell and is ready to begin its forward travel as well. Then, as the shuffle plate 40 commences to move in its forward stroke, the pins 132 impale the lowermost section and one or more of the inserts as well and are held in this condition by means of the stop 134 such that positive movement of the section with the plate 40 is assured. Since the pins are of small diameter they do not have any noticeable effect on the jacket or inserts therewithin.

By the time the plate 40 has reached its FIG. 11 position, the pins 132 have become well embedded within the section, and very slight initial forward movement of the section has occurred, while during the same period the blade 60 has reached the interior of the fold line of the section and has applied a line of force thereto. If the brush 38 has been properly located with respect to the upper surface of the plate 40, the remaining sections in the stack will be retained against such movment with plate 40 and only the lowermost impaled section will be permitted to advance at this time toward the rollers 76.

Simultaneous movement of the blades 60 and plate 40 causes the same to assist one another in withdrawing the section from the stack as the zone of force presented by plate 40 is displaced toward the point of delivery and the line of force offered by the blades 60 is shifted. In this manner, the blades 60 do not bear the full load of overcoming the frictional drag caused by the upper sections in the stack and, therefore, the blades 60 do not tear through the fold line of each section as it is moved. However, inasmuch as the blades 60 move slightly faster than the plate 40, the blades 60 actually begin to shift the section relative to the plate 40 during the interval between FIGS. 11 and 12 such that the frictional drag between plate 40 and the section is broken. This relative shifting initiates removal of the section from plate 40 and also has the effect of causing the pins 132 to retract because of the forward movement of the section.

Further advancement of the blades 60 introduces the exterior of the fold line of the jacket section between the delivery rollers 76, as shown inFlG. 12, which grip the section and continue removing the latter from the plate 40 but at a still faster speed. Thus, by the time the blades 60 have reached their limits of travel as shown in FIG. 13, the lowermost supplemented section is completely controlled by the rollers 76 and the blades 60 have begun to exit from between the folds of the section. Continued rotation of the input shaft 88 then causes the plate 40 and blades 60 to begin their return strokes and the rollers 76 continue to pull the section from the stack and from the plate 40 until the section is completely removed. As the plate 40 continues its return stroke in preparation for another cycle, the pins 132 are automatically maintained in a retracted condition below the surface of plate 40 by the withdrawing movement of the lowermost section thereabove and, when the lowermost section is completely withdrawn, the pins 132 remain in a retracted condition until the plate 40 returns to its FIG. 8 position. In this manner, while the pins 132 may brush slightly against the next section in the stack during the return stroke of shuffle plate 40, they do not impale such section until the plate 40 once again begins its forward stroke. The cycle above is repeated until the supply of sections in the stack is depleted, and it is to be understood that during each of such cycles the shuffle plate 40 maintains continuous, sliding support for the stack even during the forward stroke of plate 40 when the lowermost section is partially withdrawn from the stack.

It is to be noted that because of the relatively loose relationship betweenthe upstanding ears 112 of bar 114 and the bearing 110, only one of the ears 112 is in contact with bearing 110 during each stroke of the plate 40. Thus, as shuffle plate 40 begins its forward stroke, as illustrated in FIG. 11, the rearmost ear 112 engages the bearing 110 and swings in an arc toward the front of the feeder while pushing the sleeve 104 forwardly along guide rod 106. When bar 114 swings back in the opposite direction, the front ear 112 contacts the bearing 110.

As earlier described, by using the rest 37 between the plate 40 and the stack, the sections are caused to bend intermediate their ends such that the rear portions thereof are inclined downwardly toward the front portions. By arranging the sections in this manner it has been found that the lowermost section may be withdrawn from the stack without disturbing the remaining sections that is, it has been found that the bottom pages of the next section in the stack will not be carried along with the lowermost section when it is withdrawn, and this assures that the next section will always be ready for engagement by the blades 60 for withdrawal, as well as prevents jamming of the feeder.

It is to be noted that in certain situations it may be necessary or desirable to feed the sections or other articles without the aid of the blades 60, and it will be appreciated that such an operation may be readily carried out by orienting the articles (if folded) with their fold lines extending longitudinally of the path of travel of plate 40 and then simply utilizing the pin structure 122 and the forward stroke of the shuffle plate 40 to introduce the successive sections between the delivery rollers 76. Therefore, it is desired that the scope of the present invention not be limited to requiring the use of the blades 60.

In the event that the blades are utilized, however, it will be appreciated that by combining the efforts of the plate 40 and blades 60, the blades 60 will not tear through the fold line, even though a line of force is concentrated along the interior of the fold line by the leading edges of the blades 60. A large measure of the frictional resistance offered by the upper sections in the stack is overcome by the moving shuffle plate 40 itself and, moreover, the frictional resistance between the plate 40 itself and the section is already broken by the time the rollers 76 take over to complete the withdrawal. Therefore, it may be appreciated that the method and apparatus as hereinabove described is fully capable of carrying out the objects of the invention as originally set forth and in a new and useful manner.

I claim: I

1. Apparatus for successively feeding folded sheet articles, supplemented with inserted materials, from a stack of the articles, each of said articles having a pair of hingedly interconnected sections receiving said materials therebetween, said apparatus comprising:

structure for receiving a stack of the articles with their leading edges defining fold lines facing the direction of feeding;

a support associated with said structure for underlying the stack and mounted for shifting transversely of the stack between a rearward position receiving the lowermost article in the stack and a full feed position,

said structure including abutment means disposed to block all but the lowermost article in the stack from movement with the support during shifting thereof toward said full feed position of the same;

a pair of feeder blades mounted for movement along opposite sides of the stack in a plane through the lowermost article of the stack,

said blades being mounted for movement into opposite edges of the lowermost article between said sections and rearwardly of its fold line for engaging said fold line of that of another folded article within the lowermost article during movement of the blades in the feeding direction;

pin means carried by said support in disposition to engage the mid-portion of the lowermost article at a point spaced substantially rearwardly of its leading edge when the articles are confined within said structure,

said pin means being adapted to penetrate the lower section of the lowermost article and materials within the lowermost article in order to lock the penetrated section and materials together;

power means;

first operating means coupling said power means with the support for driving the latter along its path of travel to lock said pin means into the lowermost article and impart an initial movement in the feeding direction to the lowermost article; and

second operating means coupling said power means with said blades for driving the latter along their paths of travel at a speed greater than that of said support and in timed relationship thereto to cause the blades to overtake the fold line of the lowermost article or of another article within the lowermost article after said pin means have locked into the lowermost section and pull the lowermost article relative to the support.

2. Apparatus as claimed in claim 1, wherein said pin means is maintained rearwardly of the rear limit of travel of said blades throughout a complete feeding cycle.

3. Apparatus as claimed in claim 1, wherein said support is shifted along a reciprocable path of travelv 4. Apparatus as claimed in claim 3, wherein said blades are moved along a reciprocable path of travel.

article in the feeding direction relative to the support. 18 i i 

1. Apparatus for successively feeding folded sheet articles, supplemented with inserted materials, from a stack of the articles, each of said articles having a pair of hingedly interconnected sections receiving said materials therebetween, said apparatus comprising: structure for receiving a stack of the articles with their leading edges defining foLd lines facing the direction of feeding; a support associated with said structure for underlying the stack and mounted for shifting transversely of the stack between a rearward position receiving the lowermost article in the stack and a full feed position, said structure including abutment means disposed to block all but the lowermost article in the stack from movement with the support during shifting thereof toward said full feed position of the same; a pair of feeder blades mounted for movement along opposite sides of the stack in a plane through the lowermost article of the stack, said blades being mounted for movement into opposite edges of the lowermost article between said sections and rearwardly of its fold line for engaging said fold line of that of another folded article within the lowermost article during movement of the blades in the feeding direction; pin means carried by said support in disposition to engage the mid-portion of the lowermost article at a point spaced substantially rearwardly of its leading edge when the articles are confined within said structure, said pin means being adapted to penetrate the lower section of the lowermost article and materials within the lowermost article in order to lock the penetrated section and materials together; power means; first operating means coupling said power means with the support for driving the latter along its path of travel to lock said pin means into the lowermost article and impart an initial movement in the feeding direction to the lowermost article; and second operating means coupling said power means with said blades for driving the latter along their paths of travel at a speed greater than that of said support and in timed relationship thereto to cause the blades to overtake the fold line of the lowermost article or of another article within the lowermost article after said pin means have locked into the lowermost section and pull the lowermost article relative to the support.
 2. Apparatus as claimed in claim 1, wherein said pin means is maintained rearwardly of the rear limit of travel of said blades throughout a complete feeding cycle.
 3. Apparatus as claimed in claim 1, wherein said support is shifted along a reciprocable path of travel.
 4. Apparatus as claimed in claim 3, wherein said blades are moved along a reciprocable path of travel.
 5. Apparatus as claimed in claim 4, wherein said pin means is maintained rearwardly of the rear limit of travel of said blades throughout a complete feeding cycle.
 6. Apparatus as claimed in claim 1, wherein said support has a normally leading and a normally trailing extremity provided with a planar surface therebetween, said pin means being located substantially rearwardly of said leading extremity and being retractable below said surface in response to movement of the lowermost article in the feeding direction relative to the support. 